Leading The Blind
by hinatohimawari
Summary: [REWRITTEN] Haruno Sakura was not only blind but lost her memories from six years ago. When Uchiha Sasuke returned from his trip; he had been very difficult towards her and she might made him hate her instead. But when he offered her a place to stay, it turned out that her past with him might not be what she expected to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Haruno Sakura was not only blind but lost her memories from 6 years ago. When Uchiha Sasuke returned from his trip; he had been very difficult towards her and she might made him hate her instead. But when he offered her a place to stay, it turned out that her past with him might not be what she expected to be.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Enjoy!**

**Leading The Blind**

**h i n a**

_**01 Chapter One**_

Namikaze Naruto was not sure if bringing her along was such a great idea. It was not as if he wanted to keep a secret from her but considering her current state, he was slightly hesitant about having her. He had woken up extra early today and put on his usual orange ninja gear because he knew he would face him today (or tomorrow or even the day after). Afterall, he way ready and had been looking forward for this day.

Six years; he left Konoha with his older brother and he had never sent any news to Konoha—to him to be precise. He wondered how his training went with his brother seemingly, he was undergoing training with one of the greatest shinobi Konoha ever had. Although it sounded intimidating, Naruto's body could only shake with excitement knowing that they would finally able to have their duel.

The sun was already above the horizon when he arrived at the Yamanaka's house. He had not told her yet but of course, he planned to tell her today. He was tempted to tell her before but his gut feeling told him either letting her know or not, it was still a bad idea.

The front door opened, revealing Haruno Sakura in her white summer dress with Yamanaka Ino standing a few metres behind her. He took note that Ino had been woke up by his loud knocking and Sakura was already up at this hour. Nevertheless, he grinned at Sakura who already raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why are you here so early, Naruto?" She asked, opening the door even wider to let him enter but he did not proceed.

"You can come back to pick up Sakura a bit later. It's still too early!" Ino yawned. She was rather surprised to see Naruto especially this early in the morning.

Ignoring both his female friends, Naruto quickly pulled Sakura by her elbow before Ino shut the door. He smiled playfully at Ino and yelled her at a distance, "I'll bring her back later!" They left a very angry Ino at the entrance.

"Naruto, where are we going?" Sakura asked, wincing as his grip began to feel tighter around her elbow. They were practically running at high speed as she felt the air pressure against her whole body.

"Naruto! I can walk perfectly fine without you dragging me around!" She complained more, already on the edge of getting mad at Naruto.

He glanced back at her for only a second thinking it would have been quicker if he carried her to their destination point but knowing it was Sakura, she never liked the idea of depending on anyone. The thought of her, as a girl, being carried by a man, even if it was Naruto, it was inappropriate. Plus, she did not want to look helpless regardless of her situation. Therefore, Naruto respected her decision and so the topic was not mentioned. Soon after, Sakura had stopped complaining and struggling altogether. Naruto hoped she was not too angry with him.

He saw Nara Shikamaru on the way, wearing his daily outfit. He had his hands inside his pocket and just exited from a nearby store. Naruto raised his free hand in acknowledgement to him. The Nara guy might know what they were up too but couldn't care less to join them. After all, everything they did was too troublesome to him.

**XOXO**

Sakura's feet were already killing her. It was a mistake to wear her heels today. She should have worn her flat shoes or perhaps her sandals. When was Naruto finally going to stop dragging her and walked at a much slower pace? There was no use complaining to him due to the fact he was ignoring her since earlier. She rather kept quiet and waited for him to stop than waste her breath into talking with him.

She was about to bump into Naruto's back but he caught her by the shoulders before doing so. They had stopped somewhere judging by the sound of the place. She knew the environment was serene and peaceful. The air smelled different from the centre of the village though it was always filled with good smelling food or flowers or just something pleasant.

Sakura straightened her clothes, dusting debris from it if any. She turned to wherever Naruto was, "Where are we?" She just had to ask. She felt insecure not knowing where she was. The area was almost too quiet for her but she knew they were still inside the village.

"At the main entrance", she heard him said shortly as he walked a few steps away from her.

"OK", she nodded and glanced around trying to get used to her surroundings. "Is there a bench around? I need to sit."

She already expected Naruto's hand in her left hand as he guided her to a bench nearby with a shallow tree above it. It wasn't just any shallow tree; pink, smelled of cherry blossoms—a tree with the same name as hers—she knew it by heart.

She felt for the hard wood with her hands before sitting down as perspiration dripped by the side of her face. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. She felt the intimidated heat snaking through her dress. It was a good thing that she wore a dress instead her usual red shirt and short grey skirt which maybe would made the sweating worse. The weather had been changing drastically as summer arrived. Not that she hated summer but the heat was unbearable for her.

She found it unusual to see Naruto waking up really early today unless it was an important mission or he had to do some errands for his father. And dragging her into this without telling her beforehand, it wasn't like him at all to be so excited. She then sensed someone approaching her. Her body went rigid not knowing who it was. She readied herself to put some distances in between but hearing his voice, she relaxed.

"Relax Sakura. It's me." His voice was all cheery and slightly high-pitched (not like a girl though if she had to add).

Hatake Kakashi smiled down at her and took the empty space next to her. He then pulled out a book from one of his pockets and began reading. She already predicted though on what he was doing; he was reading his porn book again. What was so good in reading that book? Maybe she should ask Jiraiya later on about it if he was in Konoha.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here. I thought you had the day off today", Sakura turned to look at him. She shifted uncomfortably because she was sweating a lot. The heat was insane and she felt a cold Popsicle would do the job to cool her down.

Kakashi merely chuckled, "I don't suppose Naruto had tell you yet."

Sakura shook her head and was sure that her sensei was smirking under that mask of his. Her mind was thinking about the heat not wanting to know the purpose of her being there anymore—she lost interest. How did he ever survive wearing a mask over his face when the temperature was really high maybe over boiling point?

Kakashi's eyes were glued into the book he was reading at the moment leaving Sakura to sigh and fan herself with her hands hoping it would cool her down. She heard Naruto walked over and stood infront of them, not affected by the sun at all.

"I wish you were this early every session, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto groaned, putting a hand over his head to shade his eyes from the brutal sun.

"One of my students is coming back," Kakashi smiled, glancing over his book.

Sakura intended to listen to their conversation, not wanting to interrupt them but when she heard Naruto mentioned something, "Teme must be happy training under his brother. Why did it take him 6 years to train?"

_Teme?_ She thought aloud. That word seemed awfully familiar to her but she could not put herself to where she had heard of it before. She knew it must be from Naruto because he did mention this 'Teme' before when he was filling her in about their past. She had a thoughtful look on her face in which Kakashi seemed to notice that.

"It was for a good cause that sensei asked Itachi to bring him along", Kakashi commented clearly giving her an obvious clue.

Sakura's eyes widened, standing already on two, "Y-you don't mean—"

"Naruto."

Naruto turned his head to where the voice came from. He already knew it was him. Two figures were by the main entrance; one slightly shorter than the other. The Uchiha brothers had finally arrived safely in Konoha. They looked different from when they left. There was something different about them especially the younger brother. He looked so much stronger. Naruto could feel his strength even from where he stood (about 15 metres away from them to be exact).

He rushed towards the brothers and pulled the younger one in his arm giving him a friendly hug. Kakashi had followed suit, putting his book away. He patted Uchiha Itachi by the shoulder and smiled in satisfaction at their safe arrival.

"Teme, you look different!" Naruto grinned from ear to ear. Has it really been six years since the last time they had met?

Uchiha Sasuke looked taller standing beside Naruto even if the difference was an inch. His dark ebony hair was longer until it reached just above his shoulder. His skin was tanned due to too much sun exposure. His eyes were still dark coloured as ever. He wasn't wearing his ninja gear from the day before he left anymore. Now, he entirely had a new look; a sleeveless indigo colour jacket that had a zip along the middle and a three-quarter black pants, his left leg wrapped with white bandages while his forehead protector rested on his forehead as always.

Sasuke only smirked at his comment, "Bet I'm stronger than you, dobe."

"Let's have a duel right here then!" Naruto beamed already taking his position. He could not wait to start anytime soon but Kakashi abruptly interrupted them so as to stop Naruto any further.

"Hold it, Naruto. You'll have your duel once they settled in. They just arrived anyway. Let them have a day rest," advised Kakashi, receiving a nod from Itachi.

"Sasuke-kun?" Naruto and the others turned their heads around to the pink haired girl they seemed to have forgotten or noticed. Everyone especially Naruto was startled by her voice. How could Naruto completely forgotten about her? He was after all the one who brought her here.

"Sakura-chan", Naruto smiled sheepishly. He was about to approach her but she was already on the move, walking toward them. Something inside told him, it wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Is Sasuke-kun really back, Naruto?" Sakura asked in a small voice. She took another step and stopped infront of the two brothers. It amazed Naruto and Kakashi how she knew where they were.

She did not wait another second as she took hold of what was infront of her. To their surprised, Sakura had embraced the wrong guy. Itachi too shocked to speak whereas Naruto's jaw dropped. Sasuke looked surprised as well and Kakashi tried not to laugh.

"Sakura-chan, you hugged the wrong guy," Naruto said as a-matter-of-factly. She released her arms immediately and blushed madly by her actions. She was making a fool out of herself infront of them.

"Sakura," his voice deep and she turned to where it came from. Sasuke leaned forward leaving a few good centimetres between them. She could feel his warm breath tickling on her face and her blood rushed onto her cheeks.

He waved his hand infront of her face when he heard a sharp call from Kakashi, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke abruptly dropped his hand to his side.

Sakura only shook her head already knowing what he had done. She was already prepared for something like this to happen to her whenever she met someone. She braced herself and took one of Sasuke's hands, waving it across her face again.

Kakashi had on a stern look. Naruto looked away.

"I think you know it already but as you can see, I'm blind", she flashed an-all-too painful smile.

**XOXO**

**Thank you for reading!**

Note: First of all, I would like to apologize for leaving this story for quite sometime now (2011 until now !?) As you might have noticed, I've decided to change the plot just because I really forgot how I actually wanted the story to be. Secondly, thank you so much to the wonderful readers/reviewers who posted their comments and even favourite and follow this story. It means a lot to me that there are still people out there who still want to read this story. I did at one point give up but reading your comments, it made me really happy that stopping was not an option. So thank you everyone out there! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **Haruno Sakura was not only blind but lost her memories from 6 years ago. When Uchiha Sasuke returned from his trip; he had been very difficult towards her and she might made him hate her instead. But when he offered her a place to stay, it turned out that her past with him might not be what she expected to be.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Enjoy!**

**Leading The Blind**

**h i n a**

_**02 Chapter Two**_

Uchiha Sasuke quickly removed his light-weighted blue boots once he reached his house, his brother, Uchiha Itachi was already making his way into the living room, paying respect to their ancestors at the family's altar. He was relieved in removing the boots he had worn for almost six months now because he had been changing into new ones as they worn out pretty easily. He sensed that the house was filled with silence except for the sounds coming from the living room where Itachi was lighting some candles. Tiredly, Sasuke pulled his bag over his shoulder, shuffling towards the kitchen to grab a glass of cold water. He was feeling thirsty due to the heat.

Gulping the last drop of the water, from the corners of his eyes, he saw Itachi coming out from the living room, scratching the back of his head. Itachi then gave a yawn and halted halfway, turning to where Sasuke was.

"Sasuke, report yourself to the Hokage later," Itachi said.

Sasuke sighed, placing the now empty glass into the sink, "Can't you do it, Ani?" But Itachi was already gone, leaving no room for him to complain. It looked as if Itachi was not up for it to see the Hokage anytime soon judging from the exhausted expression on Itachi's face. Afterall, both the brothers had to journey overnight back to Konoha without stopping—eight hours straight which would not be anyone's cup of tea.

Dropping down the bag he had over his shoulder to the wooden floor, Sasuke leaned back onto the kitchen counter. He closed his tired eyes for a moment, suddenly remembering the small reunion with his fellow teammates and his once instructor.

The dobe had grown impressively over the years, standing slightly under him by one inch. He was still the annoying person with his wild, blond hair and goofy smile. With one look, Naruto had grown much stronger than before; if not stronger than him but he would not admit to that not before they had their duel just liked they had promised back then to see how much both of them had grown as they had walked into different paths. He knew that Naruto had been training under his father, Namikaze Minato and afterwards, with Jiraiya; one of the legendary sannins. He also founded out that Naruto was now engaged to the Hyuuga daughter, Hyuuga Hinata—they were to be wed soon sometime around this month. The news did not surprise him that much as he had been keeping tabs with the incoming letters Naruto had religiously sent to him. Without fail, he had secretly stashed his letters into one of the Hokage's urgent messages or missions that was directed to the Uchiha brothers.

On the other hand, he could not comment much about his instructor, Hatake Kakashi. That perverted man looked as if he did not age at all, still covering half of his face with his mask. Oddly enough, Sasuke still wondered what was hiding under that mask of his after all these years. Despite that, his mind was bothered by something else—more precisely, the pink haired girl—the only female in their little group.

He was already expecting her presence once he got back to Konoha, waiting for his arrival but he did not anticipated any sorts of the situation that occurred earlier. Naruto really did not talk much about her, only mentioning his trip to Ichiraku with Iruka-sensei with her or just inviting her to his place for dinner. Other than that, Naruto failed to mention or leave any hints about the girl's conditions.

It took him by surprised when she accidently embraced Itachi instead of him. He thought she was confused because in six years, anyone could have changed. But once she pulled herself away, then he noticed—her eyes. Her eyes were not the same radiant greens he once remembered. She had pale green coloured eyes in which were a shade lighter than before or maybe more dull compared to before. They look completely lifeless.

What had happened in the past six years when he was gone?

**XOXO**

"I'll be back after sending these daisies to Hamaji-san, Ino," Sakura informed her before exiting the shop but Ino was not paying any attention to her as she was mumbling something about peonies and sweet peas near the cashier's desk. Sakura giggled, listening to the restless sound of a very panicky Ino. It looked as if they got the orders mixed up again. The day before, Sakura had been informed that she would be taking care of the shop while Ino send the customers' orders around the west side of Konoha and leave for Suna today because a customer had hired her to arrange flowers for an event but due to the mixed up, Ino had sent Shikamaru and her mother instead to Suna while she tended the shop.

It took her thirty minutes for her to reach the hospital as the customer; Hamaji requested the shop to bring her freshly picked daisies into her room. Knocking the door gently, Sakura slid the door opened; she sensed someone else was there in the room and quickly curved a smile. The said person took the flowers from Sakura's arm and had replaced the daisies with the new ones. 

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Hamaji said, smiling at her. "These daisies are really pretty like the ones you've always brought me."

Sakura smiled again, "Well, you should thank Ino for that. She took extra care of the daisies. I only helped with watering them. I'll come back again tomorrow. I don't want to bother you and your friend."

"Wow. She knew we were here!" Someone said.

"Kaname!" Hamaji scolded at the person. "Sorry, Sakura-san."

"Don't worry about it," Sakura replied, leaving the room. She heard a few more scolding inside the room, mainly from Hamaji and someone apologizing profusely for his actions. But afterwards there were laughter coming from the room. Sakura felt somewhat relief that Hamaji was making friends now in the hospital because her sickness allowed Hamaji to stay in the hospital for a long period of time. Her sickness was curable but the treatment took a lot of Hamaji's time so she ended up staying in the hospital instead.

"Haruno-san!" Sakura turned on her heels to where the voice was coming from. Gentle footsteps approached her. She knew immediately who it was and smiled.

"Good thing you are here."

**XOXO**

Sasuke lunged forward towards where Naruto was and threw a Kunai at him in which Naruto dodged but it was only a distraction when he came with a Chidori from behind Naruto. Naruto smirked. He hurried towards him and knew Sasuke would aim his Chidori at him. He did a few hand seals then abruptly stopped in the middle of the training ground.

They were finally able to fulfil their promises which excited both of them especially Naruto who had been training—and skipping dinner much to Kushina's dismay—to challenge his team mate to find out who was the strongest among them. Naruto was confident that he would beat Sasuke back then but now, he was stronger than before compared to back then. Perhaps the training with Itachi made him to what he was today. He guessed it was worth the years Sasuke had spent on travelling with his brother.

Clouds of smokes coming from Naruto subsided and he appeared as a sexy woman. Naruto blew a few air kisses, flirting playfully at Sasuke who did not look impressed at all instead he threw his Chidori at him.

"Quit fooling around, Naruto," Sasuke said. The Chidori hit Naruto but he had disappeared into white smokes.

"Who's fooling around?" Naruto jumped into mid-air, a Futan Rasen Shuriken in hand, ready to launch at the dark haired boy. Again, it was easy for Sasuke to dodge such power and the Futan Rasen Shuriken hit the ground instead, creating a hole from the huge impact.

"They have improved a lot, I must say," Kakashi commented to no one in particular. Steadily impressed by both of his students' performances.

Naruto was already building up another Futan Rasen Shuriken while Sasuke with his Chidori. The intense powers released by these two ex-students were great that the air pressure had changed. Sticks, leaves and stones were lifted from the created pressure and the trees and bushes rustled strongly around the pair. At last, they launched their attacks into each other in split seconds.

"Sakura-chan! Watch out!" Naruto shouted as he saw the pink haired girl from the corners of his blue eyes. He quickly rushed to her, pulling out his specially made kunai to deflect Sasuke's massive Chidori out of the way. Sasuke who was also quick on his feet, swiftly pulled Sakura into him and directed Naruto's intensified Futan Rasen Shuriken into the ground, fifteen meters away from where they were. This resulted in forming heavy dust particles and smokes around the area.

**XOXO**

Coughing her lungs out, Sakura could feel that someone had taken her out of danger. She could sense the person's heavy breathing from above her and his fast heartbeats because her face was practically smacked into his body. She was not feeling at all pleased to be pull out of the scenery in such a rush that it made her slightly dizzy.

"Sakura-chan! Are you hurt?" Naruto asked in distressed. He was already running over to them after the smokes had subsided.

"I'm..." but her sentence was cut off immediately by Sasuke.

"What were you thinking? Do you want to get yourself killed?" He yelled at her without holding back. He was glaring at her but she did not reply anything but remained quiet.

"Sasuke, shouting at her won't help at all," Kakashi interrupted. Sasuke turned to him and then released Sakura onto the hard ground without feeling sorry. He heard her winced in pain but she did not complain. Kakashi gave him a displeased look at Sasuke but he ignored him completely and pulled Sakura on her feet.

"Why did you do that to her?" Naruto angrily asked. Sasuke was not really expecting Naruto to get this angry. He was actually expecting her to do so like she usually does whenever he treated her so badly.

Sasuke scoffed in response.

"Naruto, it's alright," Sakura said, trying to stop any more nasty outbreaks. The least she could do now was to apologize for her actions.

"I'm sorry for getting into your fight, Sasuke-kun," she looked down instead and suddenly remembered the apples she had been carrying with her from the hospital.

She kneeled down and started collecting her apples with her hands. She was more than scared to talk to him after he scolded her so badly that she was nearly on the verge to cry. She heard Naruto got down on his knees, gathering the fallen apples and putting them back into the paper bag that had flown away. Sakura collected the last of the apples into the paper bag. She thanked him for his help and signalled him to hand over the bag. She needed to get away from there because she got the feeling that someone was giving her the glare attacks at her that it made her uncomfortable to stay there even a bit longer.

Naruto handed it over to Sakura but halted midway when his blue eyes widened when he saw blood coming out from Sakura's left eye, trickling down her left cheek in a stream.

"Sakura-chan, your eye is bleeding!" Naruto pointed at her in shock. He watched as Sakura reached for her left eye and felt the thick fluid with her two fingers. She suddenly slumped down on the ground, feeling faint about the blood. Although she was did not had a fear for blood but she was surprised the bleeding came back again for quite sometimes. Yes, it did happened before but that was when she was still recovering in the hospital and back then, it was bleeding every single day that the nurses had to bandage her left eye to stop anymore bleeding or she could suffer a mild blood loss.

Kakashi step forward, taking a look at Sakura's face which was already turning pale. He insisted that he needed to bring her to the hospital because the blood was not planning to stop any time soon and waiting there, gawking at the blood—like Naruto was doing—was not helping at all. Naruto was already panicking too much.

Kakashi sighed, "Alright then, I'll be bringing you to the hospital now. And Naruto, stop panicking and inform the Yamanaka Family."

Naruto stopped panicking and nodded vigorously at Kakashi's instructions, "She'll be OK, right?"

To this Sakura assured him, "I'll be fine and Naruto, those apples are for Ino."

"Then we better get going before it gets worst."

**XOXO**

**Thank you for reading!**

Note: I think my writing style have become really rusty. Sorry. m( =.= )m


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **Haruno Sakura was not only blind but lost her memories from 6 years ago. When Uchiha Sasuke returned from his trip; he had been very difficult towards her and she might made him hate her instead. But when he offered her a place to stay, it turned out that her past with him might not be what she expected to be.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Enjoy!**

**Leading The Blind**

**h i n a**

_**03 Chapter Three**_

Today, she decided to wear her red dress with a pair of grey pants underneath to match her brown ankle boots. Although her outfit did not seem appropriate for the trip but as long as she was comfortable, she did not really mind at all. Plus, she took the extra mile to spray herself with insect repellents to avoid any mosquito bites as she was very much prone to them. She even had packed an extra pair of boots much to Ino's dismay. She was thankful that Ino was home and managed to help her pack. But they did go into a much unnecessary argument about that.

"Really, Sakura? Those boots?" Ino complained. She gave a long list of reasons as to not bring her boots but not forgetting to highlight how ugly they were at every reasons she put front. Sakura gave in at last but sneakily, she stashed her boots when Ino was not looking.

It did really surprise her that Kakashi had knocked onto their door right past noon. It was very unlikely for Kakashi to barge in into their house because that was supposed to be Naruto's job. He liked to do so as he pleased as if it was his trademark or something or Naruto was just making a statement of his presence.

When Kakashi came, she could not help but ask what he was doing there especially when he was supposed to be helping with Iruka-sensei at the Academy. He explained a tad bit but the sentence highlighted then was that the Hokage wanted to see her.

So when the Hokage wanted to see her, it could only mean two things: firstly, he wanted to invite her to dinner but that is unlikely since usually, Naruto would leave the message or simply drag her wherever she was. Secondly, it might be because the Hokage wanted to check in on her which still denies the overall question because again, either Kakashi-sensei or Naruto would report to the Hokage. This led to her final conclusion—she was in much big of a trouble. But thinking back, she never really did cause any problems or troubles unless you count the number of times she used to bump into stalls but that was a long time ago.

Anyways, it seemed she was not the only one who was summoned by the Hokage. Apparently, the whole team was called in which mean that person was also present.

"We have some great news for you, Sakura-san!" The Hokage announced. She could only rise up a brow in curiosity. She could feel that Naruto was already bouncing enthusiastically in his spot.

"News?" She quoted back.

"We got a message from Suna that Tsunade-sama had been staying there for a few days now. As you might have heard of, she might be able to help with your current condition, Sakura-san," The Hokage said, leaning over his wooden desk.

Kushina who had been standing beside him was smiling from ear to ear, "Sakura-chan, isn't it great?"

Sakura could only nod because she did not get the point why she still needed to be there aside from the great news.

"But otou-chan, why were we called?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head confusingly.

The Hokage nodded at Kakashi, "We will serve as escorts for Tsunade-sama."

And thus, she was now here in the middle of nowhere. She still could not understand why she was (forced) to come along because it would have been quicker if they did go without her. The journey to Suna was already making her feel unnecessarily uncomfortable to the point that she was keeping herself quiet since the beginning of the journey. Plus, she was already getting intense stares and glares behind her by that person who she knew would never get along with. But really, if he was still mad about the incident the other day, even after her numerous apologies; she just could not understand at all because no one was hurt during their promised duel and that was it.

"What are you thinking, Sakura? You've been quiet since we left Konoha," interrupted Kakashi. He was looking down at her and could see that she was biting and un-biting her lower lip.

"Uh, it's nothing," she answered, trying to put up with a small smile.

"Are you still bothered by the other day?" Kakashi asked, watching her carefully.

"Well, if that person had been able to let go of it, it wouldn't be bothersome at all. I mean, I did say sorry, didn't I?" Sakura explained. She sounded a bit mad but of course, who wouldn't?

"And he has been staring at me this entire time!"

Kakashi laughed amusingly, "You could tell?"

She decided not to answer to that.

"I don't think you should worry about that. He is just being Sasuke. He is always like that, Sakura. Don't let him bother you that much," Kakashi patted head and then ruffled her pink hair playfully. She was still quite mad and was about to retort when she tripped onto a root and fell face down, scrapping her right knee.

Immediately noticing Sakura's misfortune, Naruto helped her up, "Are you OK, Sakura-chan?"

She stood up with the help of Naruto and brushed the dusts from her dress. She could hear that person was scoffing at her embarrassing action.

"Let's call it a day. We covered quite a lot today," Kakashi decided while walking to a nearby clearing. Honestly if he were to say, it would have been better if they go another 20 kilometres or so travelling via tree-hopping but they surely could not do that because of Sakura. Her inability to tree-hopping was one thing and also the fact that she hated to rely on someone by carrying her to go to one place to another. But Naruto had insisted that they were not in any rush to go to Suna or getting back to Konoha after fetching Tsunade.

When night time fell, the camps were already set up by Naruto while Sasuke was in charge of getting some firewood to cook water and warm them up. It was getting pretty cold around the Fire Country as the climate started to go a little down by a few degrees. Although it had never snowed in the Fire Country, the temperature here could very well drop to as low as 19 degrees Celsius. So setting up fire was compulsory for the cold night.

Sakura had her bagpack near her which she quickly pulled out a bag of apples she had with her. Ino had packed them prior to the leftovers from the other day and it would be a waste to leave them at home to rot because nobody was eating them except for Sakura that is. Apples were infact Sakura's favourite or so Ino had assumed when she forced Sakura to bring them along.

She then took her travel knife and continued to remove the skins of the apples professionally. After that, she gave Naruto and Kakashi each of the peeled apples. She then preceded to the last apple before handling it to that you-know-who-person.

"Here," she handed him the apple in which he took. Sakura put her knife away and then asked for Kakashi for some water. She could feel that he was still staring at her but she tried to ignore him.

Sakura sighed as she still sensed that he was not eating the apple she had peeled, "It took some time and practice to get to where I am now. Honestly, it still amazes me that I can do it without accidently cutting my flesh."

Sasuke inspected the apple before decidedly eating it. So she had been practicing with apples. But he still found it surreal with Sakura's attitude and actions. She seemed a bit off because he had been observing her since they started the trip. He watched her gulp down the water and stood up with her bagpack over her shoulder, ready to leave them.

"I'm heading to bed now," she announced.

Naruto, surprised, "But you haven't eaten anything yet!"

"I'm not hungry. I've eaten before we left," she said and excused herself for one of the camps.

Kakashi watched at Sakura's retreating back and eyed Sasuke, "Sasuke."

Sasuke bit into the apple.

"Don't push her too hard. She isn't the same as before," Kakashi added.

"I'll bring this to her. Don't stay up late. We'll be heading out early tomorrow," Kakashi then took a few breads with him before leaving the duo.

"OK," Naruto replied, nodding. He was now munching on his own bread and drinking down his tea he brought with him. Apparently, Hinata had packed it for him together with a bentou in which he had finished eating already not wanting to share with any of them (but that did not bother them at all).

"Naruto," called Sasuke. Naruto turned in response.

"What happened when I was gone?" Sasuke asked. _What happened to Sakura?_ He asked inside his mind because Sasuke was not getting anything at all. Firstly and foremost, he did not remember at all about her being blind. Of course, he did not want to ask because he was not that insensitive of a jerk like most people would say (when he said people here, he only meant Ino).

Next, she acted a little too differently than he expected when he scolded her with harsh words during the duel the other day where she could almost gotten herself killed. He expected that she would start crying and ran away from the scene or pulled in some punches at him for shouting at her but instead, she acted rather calmly to the point where he witnessed her bleeding eye but she got better the day after apparently.

And lastly, why was she avoiding him? Of course, there was a better explanation for that if he were to add. But she had not even talked to him let alone held a conversation with him. Although, if you counted the apple, that was not really talking. It was more like she felt obliged to talk to him. Usually, she would give nasty comments at him or simply teased him about something but that does not mean that she should be avoiding him if she was upset about what had happened the other day.

So what happened? What _exactly_ had happened to her?

Naruto stopped munching on his bread at Sasuke's sudden question. He was not saying anything until he looked up straight at the camp where there were silhouettes of Kakashi's and Sakura's. It looked as if Kakashi was having a hard time asking her to eat the bread he had brought with him. Was it alright for Naruto to say something about Sakura? He even took extra care to not mention her in any of his letters to Sasuke before when Sasuke was away, fear that Sakura did not like it. Although, Sakura did not tell him to do so—tell anyone or Sasuke about her handicap, he respected Sakura's privacy regarding that and decided not to let even Sasuke know about it. Infact, Sakura never knew that he had secretly send letters to Sasuke. So, should he really tell him about it?

"It isn't really my place to talk about her because it is Sakura we are talking about," he paused taking a deep breath as if to make sure of his decision.

Naruto continued, "But when Hinata-chan found her unconscious on the ground just outside the village gates, we rushed her to the hospital but she didn't wake up for nearly a month afterwards."

Naruto paused, a grim look on his face as he remembered the incident that took place six years ago, "Sakura woke up looking like a dead person with her weird looking expression. She said she couldn't see anything but what scared me the most was…"

"…she doesn't even remember any of us."

**XOXO**

**Thank you for reading!**

Note: Sorry that it took me sometime to update this chapter and I know the story so far progresses a bit slow. Worries me that I might bore everyone reading this but it is essential. . But regardless, thank you to everyone reading this :D Made me smile everytime I see reviews or the number of people following this story. Thank you again!


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